The journey from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Rome ,Italy took us 28 hours in total. It was a long, exhausting journey and one of our longest. But for the price it was the most comfortable option available.

In Kuala Lumpur we stopped off for lunch in a local cafe and paid for the expensive direct train to the airport, which was meant to be the quickest way, that inevitably ended up being late! The airport was massive and reminded us of Japan again with the modern architecture, but as we've found with a few things in Malaysia, it may look like a modern organised facility but there is always something quiet important missing. We've delt with huge malls with carparks and monorail entrances but no road crossing for walking visitors, who have to leg it across a busy duel carriageway to get in. Well the airport lacked any seating area, that wasn't in a overpriced cafe and a big lack of tourist gift shops but tons of chocolate and designer brands. Keep going Malaysia you've nearly got it right!

We boarded a comfortable Sri Lankan Airlines flight for 4 hours with a delicious meal to Sri Lanka. Descending over Sri Lanka, our live for this unspoilt chaotic country was reawakened. It was our first Asian stop and now our last. It will be one of our favourites places we have visited.

With Sri Lankan Air you can book an overnight hotel stop for connection longer than eight hours wait for free. With our nine hour stopover we were able to apply. We kept our expectations low as we assumed that we would get a smelly and dirty room as it was for free. However we were pleasantly surprised, our free taxi took us to a gated hotel property 5 minutes away. The room was clean and basic, it was surrounded by trees, a pool and tennis court. We even got a Sri Lankan banquet dinner for free. We had forgotten how generous and cheap this country was. It was a great stop-over that we did not expect. Even if we did just get 5 hours of hotel time in the end, due to the relaxed Asian way of doing anything.

The 11 hour flight to Rome was another story, we started our journey at 11pm in a seriously busy airport. There was a massive que just to get into the airport building! After all the different ques we boarded our flight, got ourselves comfy and ready for a sleep after being awake for 19 hours in total by now. But you can never choose who gets on a flight with your. So we boarded with three young children. Who took it in turns to cry and scream throughout our 11 hour flight while everyone was trying to sleep. But that's just how it goes sometimes.
Asia. What a whirl wind of an experience. When we planned this trip we were aware of some minor difficulties we would face, but we were inspired by the amount of people that travel there and adore the place. Although it has been seriously tough in some places, we have loved every minute. It's not for the faint hearted, and you spend the majority of your time sitting around and wondering if there is something you should be doing. But that is Asia, its not the costly organised experiences such as kayaking or elephant visits . It's the experience of physically being in the country and taking in the whole lifestyle through sight, sound, taste and of course smell.

Sri Lanka brought us a huge shell shock, but also gave us the confidence we need to tackle the rest of our journey. We loved our 7 hour train journeys on hard wooden seats with the noises of hawkers selling their local snacks. The unspolit culture was easier to explore, enabling us to experience the food and lifestyle of the locals.

Japan still holds the title of being one of the top five countries we have visited together. It's modern lifestyle fascinated us and we dived in head first for the Tempura and Udon noodles. But it wasn't just the food that made this one of the best countries, the ornate temples and shrines blew us away as well as the kind well mannered people.

China was a tough experience for us. Although we hated every second of being in the country, looking back now we are so glad we took the time to experience it. The country was mind boggling, but so interesting. We are proud to say we stood on the Great Wall of China, saw the Forbidden Palace, marvelled at the Terracotta Warriors and watched pandas in their home country.

Vietnam was an unexpected surprise to us both, especially the north of the country. One of our favourite experiences is visiting Ha Long Bay on to one night boat trip and Hanoi is one of our favourite cities in Asia. We hope the country protects is culture for years to come.

Cambodia was one of the countries we were fearful of. We pictured dirty streets and criminal activity. How wrong we were as we ate fresh seafood while watching the sunset and later exploring the ancient ruins of Angkor, another top experience on our trip. It was hard on our emotions when learning about its recent history and seeing the poverty and corruption, but the country had so much going for it.

Thailand had a different feel to our previous countries. It cost more to experience the culture than other places, but we found it on our own with local guides and cooking classes. We welcomed the New Year in spectacular style here and we will not forget it.

Malaysia automatically felt different to its neighbouring countries. The mix of Indian and Chinese cultures was fascinating. The modern facilities and actual pavements made our journeys easier, and we welcomed back our old Sri Lankan meals. We only saw a snippet of this country, but we'd definetly return to explore Borneo.

The biggest lesson we've learnt from our time exploring the diversity of Asia is how lucky we are to born in England. We are so unbelievably luck for the opportunities that we have, the healthcare we can rely on and the education system that can finance us to a degree standard. Our worries and concerns are minimal compared to a seriously high majority of people in Asia and we need to learn to be thankful for what we have because we have so much.

So its with a heavy heart after 20,603 miles of air and land travel, over 4 months and through seven countries, that we bid goodbye to Asia and welcome the cold streets of Europe.